Solo: Chorzów

What to do alone in Chorzów? Ride the Elka cable car over Silesian Park, see wooden churches and climb to a viewing platform at a shaft.

Chorzów copes well with solo sightseeing, because many sights lie in Silesian Park and the rest in districts linked by public transport. The write-up below covers over twenty sights, ranging from a planetarium to churches built in different centuries. Further options in the city are listed under things to do in Chorzów, while trips alone around the whole region are collected under what to do alone in Silesia.

What can you see in Silesian Park on your own?

Silesian Park can fill several hours of walking: a planetarium, a cable car and an open-air museum with wooden churches. Everything lies on one site, so the plan needs no travel in between.

The Silesian Planetarium, Aleja Planetarium 4, claims the title of the largest and oldest in the country and has operated since 1955. Since 2022 it has also shown exhibitions on astronomy, seismology and meteorology, so it suits a rainy day. The Elka cable car carries passengers over the park. When it started in 1967 it was the longest lowland cable car on the continent. Today it runs on newly built lines and offers pleasant views. The story of the whole park, from the decision of 1950, is told in an article on Silesian Park in Chorzów.

The Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park holds two relocated wooden churches. The Church of St Joseph the Worker, dated 1791, was built at Nieboczowy on the Oder. The Lutheran church from Bytom-Bobrek, dated 1932, was put up as a church in another town and now stands here. For open-air museums across the region, read the article on open-air museums and farmsteads of Silesia.

Which industrial sites can you visit in Chorzów?

Three technical sites tell of metallurgy and mining: a museum in a former power station, a shaft tower and a Neo-Gothic pithead. Each is quite different.

The Metallurgy Museum at Metalowców 4A tells of iron and steel production and is the first museum in the country devoted solely to it. It occupies the brick building of a former power station that the Kościuszko Steelworks put up in 1891. Visitors have been admitted since 2021. Prezydent Shaft is a reinforced-concrete winding tower built in the early 1930s. It is 42.5 metres tall, has a viewing platform and belongs to the Industrial Monuments Route. It is the only well-preserved reminder of mining in Chorzów. The Elżbieta shaft complex at Siemianowicka 64 is the Neo-Gothic pithead of the "Król" mine from the early 20th century. The buildings look like a small castle and now hold a venue for receptions.

Which churches in Chorzów are worth seeing?

Catholic and Lutheran churches of several eras stand in the town, from Neo-Gothic to Modernism. The easiest way to compare them is by district.

Historicist styles

At 3 Maja 18 stands the Church of St Barbara: hewn sandstone, Neo-Gothic style, a tower with a clock. It was consecrated in 1852 and rebuilt in 1894-1896. On the hill of the Chorzów Stary district, on Bożogrobców Street, you will see the brick Church of St Mary Magdalene of 1889-1892, with a 75-metre tower, designed by Josef Ebers. In Batory rises the Neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, designed by Ludwig Schneider and built in 1898-1901, with a tower 73 metres high. Around five thousand worshippers fit inside. Two churches are Neo-Romanesque: St Hedwig of Silesia's Church at Wolności 53, brick and three-nave, dating from 1874 and extended in 1908, and the Basilica of St Joseph, put up in 1904-1907, whose clock tower reaches 51 metres.

Modernism

Chorzów also has 20th-century architecture. The Holy Spirit Church at Dąbrowskiego 104 was built in 1957-1963 on the Ruch estate, and its form recalls the chapel at Ronchamp. In 2022 it joined the register of monuments. The Church of St Anthony of Padua on Kopernika Street, of 1930-1934, is lit by round windows 5.5 metres in diameter; the altar is the work of Bogusław Langman and the windows were made by Dezydery Mocznay. In Batory stands the brick Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of 1937-1939, consecrated on Christmas Eve 1939.

Lutheran churches and a cemetery chapel

The Martin Luther Church at Powstańców 13, built in 1897-1898, is Neo-Gothic and counts as one of the largest Protestant churches in Upper Silesia. Older is St Elizabeth's Church of 1840-1844, designed by August Soller, standing amid the Lutheran cemetery on Katowicka Street. On the town's largest cemetery you will also find a Neo-Gothic cemetery chapel of 1898, designed by Ludwig Schneider, with plaques for distinguished citizens of Chorzów.

Where to see town halls and rest in Chorzów?

Two town halls reveal two former municipalities, and a graduation tower offers a moment to breathe. All are in the centre and can be seen in an hour.

The town hall on the Market Square was raised for Królewska Huta in 1874-1876, and its present look results from the rebuilding of 1927-1929. The tower and the stained glass in the council chamber are still there, and the city's president has an office in the building. The former town hall in Chorzów Batory at Ratuszowa 3 is a Neo-Baroque building with three floors, finished between 1909 and 1911 for the head of the Bismarckhütte commune, which later became Wielkie Hajduki. The story of the club from this district is told in the article on Ruch Chorzów. On Plac Hutników stands the brine graduation tower beside the monument to von Reden, created when the square was revitalised in 2018-2020. You can sit here quietly for a while. The article on brine towers and spa pump rooms lists others in the region.

How to plan a route around Chorzów by district?

It is best to begin in Silesian Park, where the planetarium, Elka and the open-air museum take half a day. The second trip is Batory: the former town hall on Ratuszowa, the Church of the Assumption on Farna and the Church of the Sacred Heart on Długa. In the centre you will see St Barbara's, the town hall on the Market Square and the graduation tower on Plac Hutników, and on the hill of Chorzów Stary the Church of St Mary Magdalene. Prezydent Shaft, Elżbieta shaft and the Metallurgy Museum make a separate day of technology. Leave the cemetery with its chapel and St Elizabeth's Church for a quiet walk.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chorzów good for sightseeing alone?

Yes. Silesian Park brings the planetarium, the cable car and the open-air museum into one place, and the rest of the town has a compact centre with a town hall, churches and a graduation tower.

What to do in Chorzów in the rain?

The Silesian Planetarium with its exhibitions on astronomy, seismology and meteorology, or the Metallurgy Museum in the brick hall of a former power station.

Where are the wooden churches in Chorzów?

In the Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park. They are the Church of St Joseph the Worker, dated 1791, and the Lutheran church from Bytom-Bobrek, dated 1932.

Where does Chorzów offer a view?

From the viewing platform at Prezydent Shaft and from the Elka cable car over Silesian Park.